"The ravel'd ___ of care."

• Divide silk into filaments
• "Sleep that knits up the ravell'd ___ of care": Shakespeare
• " . . . ravell'd ___ of care": Macbeth
• " . . . ravell'd ___ of care": Shak.
• Tangle of ravelings
• Raveled silk
• "The ravell'd __ of care": Shak

Wiktionary Word definitions in Wiktionary
n. 1 The knotted or entangled part of silk or thread. 2 Silk not yet twisted; floss. vb. (context weaving English) To separate, as threads; to divide, as a collection of threads.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary Word definitions in Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"to separate or divide" (threads, strands, fibers), Old English -slæfan , from stem of -slifan "to separate, split, cleave," from Proto-Germanic *slifanan , perhaps related to the root of slip (v.). Compare German Schleife "a loop, knot, noose." Related: ...